Startups, if you want to get the most out of the Mentorship Program, you want to send a simple, short monthly update email to everyone who has kindly given you their email address :). Consider a format like this:
Subject: [Company name] presenting on [date] | update
Dear Mentors, if you are … [Read more...]

Coming to a VVM Pitch Camp? Or perhaps you are interested in some tips on how to craft a great introductory pitch (one for companies before they are seeking investment capital)? Below are our instructions and tips we hope will help you out!
Watch these videos on how to pitch (technically the … [Read more...]

We are delighted to share that our second experiment in running a VVM meeting held outside of Springfield was a smash success! Wha who!
Last night's event, done in partnership with the great people at reSET, had nearly 80 people attended, 9 startups pitched, and room's energy was contagious. … [Read more...]

Several of our startups have applied for $100k grants. To make the next round they each need 300 votes. The rules allow you to vote for as many startups as you like! If you can take 5 min, you can vote for them via these links:
Just Jane's (224 votes so far)
Caswell Communications (111 so … [Read more...]

One of VVM’s core values is "Leverage the community." Short version: you don't need to have all the answers, connections are often far more valuable!
Last week one of our startups, OpenSourceHigh (maker of fun, engaging educational videos) came to us with a common challenge. They have a product … [Read more...]

One of VVM's core values is "Make everything fun." We believe if you make it fun, you'll get more of everything else you want too. A recent example:
Our Accelerator curriculum called for breaking our startups into sub-cohorts that would travel through the 4-month experience together. Startups in … [Read more...]

In the 30 days between the last two VVM Accelerator bootcamp weekends...
Wonder Crew (doing to the blue toy aisle what Goldieblox and similar startups have done for the pink) - Raised >$40k in pre-sales via crowdfunding platform Kickstarter thanks to help provided by fellow accelerator teams … [Read more...]

"Mentoring is a way to show entrepreneurs how they can be successful and to not make the same business mistakes I did.”
Steve Willis has been an entrepreneur in computer networking since 1982. In 1986, he co-founded Wellfleet Communications, a pioneering Internet router company, where he ran the … [Read more...]

This is a guest post by VVM Intern Drew Unikewicz summarizing what she took away from a recent VVM Pitch Camp...
“I want to see a dead seagull on every [gosh darn] slide!” (Paul Silva, executive director at VVM).
Valley Venture Mentors held their first session of "Pitch Camp I" for the newest batch … [Read more...]

VVM Startup Wonder Crew just launched a Kickstarter Campaign! Here is what our executive director said on his blog...
Short version: I just backed Wonder Crew Toys, and I invite you to join me. This is a product that matters from a mom who cares. I think you should too :).
Details:
“Wonder Crew … [Read more...]